Use Montessori at Home

Is it possible to use Montessori at home

When
people learn I have a background in Montessori (20+ yrs) I am often
asked my thoughts on using Montessori at home. I say 'Absolutely!'
Now if you had asked me that question 15-16 years ago, I would have said
"no". But time has a wonderful
way of making us wiser and helping us realize (through twists and turns)
that life isn't black and white. Life offers a spectrum of colors that should be embraced.

Each child is different, and each family situation is different. Some children require additional services that are not available in Montessori schools, and many families can't afford to send their children to Montessori schools. But thankfully, Montessori
is suitable for
everyone and it is possible at home!

The Montessori method is the best guide

As a mother of 3
children I've come to believe that if we do the best we can with
what we have, with the best of intentions, the greatest amount
of love (and a lots of prayers!), our children will grow up to be confident and intelligent
individuals. Now the important thing is to make sure that we have the best information to guide us on how to guide our children. I truly believe that the Montessori method is the best guide.

Modifications to the Montessori environment

Of course there are modifications
that you'll have to make, and you must be willing to bend your mind a
little to accept it's not going to be a perfect Montessori environment. Including
Montessori in the home can mean different things to different people.
There are as many opportunities and variations on how Montessori can be
used, as there are family situations. You can:

set up an
entire Montessori environment and homeschool full time

supplement
your child's 'regular' schooling with a Montessori environment at home

use individual
Montessori materials for certain areas that your child may be
struggling in (ie. math, language)

Many purist
Montessorians think that it's not possible to provide a Montessori
setting in the home for a variety of reasons. I'm going to touch on four
of the most common reasons that are given for not being able to
successfully provide Montessori at home. And I'll give you some ways to work around the issues.

I feel very
strongly that it's possible to work around those reasons and provide a
beautiful Montessori education at home for your children. It won't be
perfect, but neither are the Montessori schools. To be clear, I'm not
discouraging parents from sending their children to Montessori schools.
Over the past 20+ years I've seen many beautiful and successful
Montessori schools that have educated thousands of children. I've helped
to start up 2 schools, and I've also run a school. I'm not
anti-school. But not everyone has $3,500 to $5,000/per child to spend on 1 year of
tuition for half-day Montessori. That's the approximate cost here in
Ontario Canada to attend a Montessori school (full day is $9,000 to $12,000). Money shouldn't be the factor that prevents families from offering the best
of Montessori education to their children. After all, the Montessori
method of education was developed in the slums of Italy, using the poorest children as the guinea pigs.

On to the arguments!

#1
- Parents aren't trained in Montessori

People weren't
trained and certified to be parents either - but we've all made it
through to this point. And I say this with total respect for those who
have their Montessori certification. I too am certified (AMI), and obviously
it does give us a head start, but it doesn't mean that non-certified
people can't use Montessori. Listen up parents - you simply need to do
what you did when you first found out you were going to become parents.
Come on, admit it! You all went running to the book store (or the
library) and wore a path down the isle of the "Parenting" section. You then spent countless hours reading and learning how to care and raise your new baby.

This time you don't need to browse through shelves of Montessori books. I will point you in the direction of the most thorough, affordable, and accessible book for parents wanting to learn how to make and use Montessori early learning activities at home:

This book is available in digital eBook format (pdf file) and on CD Rom. It gives you complete
instructions on making and using over 200 Montessori early learning
activities, adapted for use at home with 3-7 yr. olds.

Information is included
on Montessori education, teaching techniques, making and using learning
materials at home, and how to be a great Home Teaching Parent -
everything you and your child need.

Most of the activities
are made using items you already have at home or which can be easily
& inexpensively obtained anywhere. Recommendations are also given on
affordable Montessori materials for the home, as well as for over 100
websites offering resources and materials- many of them free!

Everything you need is here to give your child
the benefits of a Montessori preschool - right at home.

Now Available! the new Montessori At Home! eBook and Materials Bundle

About the author

John Bowman’s most
rewarding work was being a Montessori preschool Teacher and Director. He
opened three new Montessori preschool programs; and was the first
Director of the Garfield Montessori School in Denver, Colorado. His
goals now are to encourage parents to do early learning activities with
their children and to show them how.

Author’s note

“ For
many years I was privileged to observe and assist children in their use
of Montessori Prepared Environments. I was continually amazed at how
fast young children grow and develop while using these learning
activities. Eventually, I came to believe that parents could easily
provide these experiences for their own children, right at home.

These resources are
designed to get you started quickly and easily; but with understanding
and an organized plan for doing early learning activities at home. I
sincerely hope they are the catalysts for allowing many parents to have
the same experiences of observing rapid growth and development in their
children that a Montessori Teacher has every day.

#2 - Parents can't afford the high cost of Montessori materials

Fifteen years ago I would have agreed with the argument that parents can't afford the high cost of Montessori materials. But these days it's no longer an argument that holds water.
You could re-mortgage your house and purchase $30,000 of the finest
Montessori materials by Nienhuis or other high-end Montessori suppliers -
but why would you want to? You're not opening a school where the
materials need to survive a group of 20-30 children each year for 10-20
years. You likely have 1-5 children in the 3-6 age group and you need
materials that will survive their use.

There are many materials that can be substituted
for the traditional Montessori materials. The most important thing to
remember is the concept of each material. When you're thinking of
making a substitution for a material be sure to ask yourself - " Does
this material support the concept that the material was intended to
teach?"

Here are a few examples of substitutions that could
save you a lot of money - and I'm only showing you 4 examples of average
quality materials and not the high-end Nienhuis materials that we all
drool over. Can you imagine the amount you could save throughout an
entire Montessori home environment if you just think creatively!

Approx.
$110.00 vs $40.00

Approx.
$95 vs $3

Approx.
$300+ vs $80

(value
is for a full set - photo does not show a full set)

Approx.
$125 vs $30

And then factor in all of the
printed materials that are required. I
could give a hundred examples of differences in cost, but it's clear
from only 1 example just how much money you can save if you simply do
your homework.

Yes, Montessori materials do take up
space. Especially when you factor in all of the wooden materials in the
Sensorial and Math area. One of the modifications you can make is to
rotate some materials between being available on the shelves and being
in storage. I know this makes Montessori teachers shutter at the thought
that all of the materials are not easily accessible to the children at
all times BUT, that might be one of the modifications you might have to make in order to bring Montessori to your children at home.
After all, you have to find a way to make the best use of the space
available in your home.

In our early homeschool
adventure we turned our dining room in to a Montessori environment. It
was not ideal, but we made the best use of the space we had, using some
'real' Montessori materials and lots of substitutions. It included 6
inexpensive shelves from Wal-Mart (we added additional shelves in to
each unit where possible - you can see the math shelves are pretty full) and a computer printer stand. We worked on the
carpet and at the table, and we had a small child-size set of table and chairs
(not visible in the picture).

This set-up
allowed us to enjoy the sunlight, have adequate floor space, and still
be able to use our dining room for family gatherings. In fact, I fondly
remember watching my children give their grandparents,
aunts, uncles, and cousins, lessons after a big family dinner. Our
"classroom" environment really was enjoyed by everyone who spent time in
our home.

Most practical life lessons can take place in the
kitchen using every day kitchen items - just use items that are
smaller in size so that the children can manage with them.

Language
lessons are primarily printed materials and you can see just how much we were able to fit on one shelf!

Be creative with the
storage of the printed materials. You can use hardware towers, plastic
bins, file folders, etc. Again, it may not be ideal as in a regular
Montessori school setting - but it doesn't mean it can't be effective at
home.

We've since redesigned all of our Pink Blue Green Language Series (or Step 1, 2, 3
if you don't want to use a color-coded system) to fit in to
space-saving hardware towers. Not only does it help to save shelf space,
it keeps everything organized! You can learn more about the Pink Blue Green Language Series here.

back
to list#4 - Children and a 3 tier social environment
The number of children available to be a part of your
Montessori home environment is going to be a bit of a problem, unless you've
given birth to several sets of multiplies in a few short years. The 3
year age mix and 1:30 ratio are key components of the Montessori
philosophy. (1:30 ratio = 10 three
year olds, 10 four year olds, 10 five year olds to 1 trained
Directress and an assistant). The mixed ages of the children is crucial;
the children learn from each other, care for each other, and help to
eliminate
the crutches that would otherwise occur if the children were all the
same age.
The children gain more independence and have less dependence on the
Directress.You can read another article on the student-teacher ratio here.
Obviously
you'll have to make do with the number of children you have in your
situation. You'll need to become acutely aware of your actions to ensure
that you do not overly involve yourself, interfere when it's not
necessary, or become a crutch to the children. I discussed the
importance of observation in this article. Be sure to spend time making good
observation notes so that you can make clear decisions on how to alter
the environment or your behavior as the adult/teacher to help make up
for the lack of the mixed age group.

Before you invite additional children from the neighborhood or
other homeschooling families to join in on your homeschool during the
'regular' school hours, become familiar with the laws in your
province/state. If you add children in to your
homeschool it may be considered a 'daycare' in the eyes of the law and
then you are required to register and follow guidelines that you might
not want to adhere to. There is an article here on Montessori Candy regarding
homeschooling and including a Co-op. It's a great post with lots of
ideas and information that I'm sure you'll find useful.

So to wrap this all up - yes, it's very
possible to bring Montessori in to the home! It will not be perfect. You
will encounter challenges and frustrations, but you will also be
providing your children the opportunity to become self-directed
learners. And if, over time, you find that your home or
life situation changes you can always alter your homeschooling program
or try something different. In my opinion, Montessori is a way of
thinking, an approach to life. It's more than just the traditional
Montessori materials, the mixed age, or the trained Montessori teacher.
If you're familiar with Montessori then you can take pretty much any
'lesson' and put a Montessori spin on it.

So relax and enjoy
learning about Montessori, share Montessori with your children, and
forget about making it perfect.
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